NEW DELHI: Law Minister Kiren Rijiju has taken a potshot on those questioning the Union government's decision to appoint former Supreme Court Justice S Abdul Nazeer as Governor of Andhra Pradesh, saying the country was no more their personal fiefdom and would be governed by the Constitution.
"The Whole Eco-system is once again in full swing on the appointment of a Governor. They should better understand that, they can no more treat India as their personal fiefdom. Now, India will be guided by the people of India as per the provisions of the Constitution of India," he tweeted on Sunday evening.
The response from the Minister came as CP MP A A Rahim said the decision of the Union government was not on par with the constitutional values of the country.
"It is highly condemnable. He (Nazeer) should refuse to take up the offer. The country should not lose the confidence in its legal system Such decisions are a blot on Indian democracy," he said.
Senior advocate and Rajya Sabha MP Abhishek M Singhvi also tweeted, "One of your (BJP) tall leaders sadly no more with us, Arun Jaitley, on Sept 5, 2013, in the House and several times outside stated that the desire of a post-retirement job influences pre-retirement judgements. It is a threat to the Independence of the judiciary."
Justice Nazeer who was elevated to the Supreme Court on February 17, 2017, has retired on January 4. He was appointed as Andhra Pradesh Governor on Sunday.
Justice Nazeer, who hailed from Karnataka, was part of several Constitution benches, including the Ayodhya and the demonetisation verdicts. He was appreciated for genteel manner of conducting court during his term.
During his tenure, while speaking in a programme, he emphasised on 'Indianisation' of the legal system by learning from the legal traditions of "Manu, Kautilya, Katyayana, Brihaspati, Narad, Yagyavalkya and other legal giants of ancient India".
Former Chief Justice of India N V Ramana also spoke about similar need 'Indianisation' of laws, an issue which has often been raised by several people including by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, known as 'PIL man of India'.
